Trigger
by Keep-a-Secret
Summary: After a study is released claiming boys in sports teams are aggressive and violent, the Seigaku regulars are forced to take part in a writing task with no rules but a single trigger word. Nine regulars, nine words, a lot of frustration and new insights.
1. No Heart? Us?

_No Art: No Heart?_

_Japan's leading psychology department has announced a new theory concerning children and sports. It has been theorised that children who spend the majority of their time participating is sports teams, such as tennis, soccer etc, are missing out on valuable time they could be spending in the arts._

"_Creative activities," one of the leading psychologists in the project insists, "are crucial in the raising of a stable child, providing relaxation, self realisation, creative thought and chances to spend quiet time with their family or peers. Our studies show that children, boys in particular, that spend no time focusing on the arts are considerably more likely to become aggressive and violent. Those in sports teams even more so."_

"_Of course, frequent physical activity has many beneficial effects for children, including teamwork, fitness and a broader social network, but those focused exclusively on sporting activities may start showing negative effects-it's all about getting the right balance."_

"Aggressive? Us?" Eiji said blankly when coach Ryuzaki stopped reading the article. It certainly hadn't been what the Seigaku regulars had expected when the coach asked them to stay behind for a while after training.

"Yes, aggressive, you. And many of the other teams in the area. It's caused a lot of upset, but this article does make sense."

"We all know who it refers to in _our_ team…" Momo smirked, giving Kaidoh a smirk the latter unfortunately noticed.

"You mean me?"

"Who else?"

"I'll make you eat those words!"

"_Stop it_!" Coach Ryuzaki barked, causing the two eighth graders to freeze mid-punch, "This is exactly what it refers to, _both_ of you! Now, who here has any creative hobbies at all?"

Fuji smiled-well, a little more than always-and raised a hand "I like photography"

"And look how calm he is!" Eiji grinned, "Maybe this article has something to it after all!"

"Thank you" a light, feminine voice came from somewhere around the door. A tall, unfamiliar woman walked into the center of the discussion and gently removed Kaidoh's hand from Momo's shoulder and straightened his bandana. "For complimenting my article. Yuriko Makoto, child psychology department. My colleagues and I were just dropping by the area to make sure the article was getting around. Oh, also, I have a little present for you" Yuriko handed coach Ryuzaki an envelope "Just to get you started, bye bye!"

As quickly as she had arrived, the strange woman left. Coach Ryuzaki passed the envelope to Tezuka and left too, to find out just how that woman had managed to get into the school in the first place. Tezuka opened the envelope. A laminated sheet and nine small folded pieces of paper fell out. He picked up the laminated sheet.

"Each of the nine folded pieces of paper has a word written on it," he read, "this is a 'trigger word'. Using your trigger word, you must write your thoughts relating to that word. It could be someone you know, what that word means to you, an anecdote, anything to get you thinking. Trigger words should be assigned randomly to provide opportunity for maximum effort."

"Maximum effort?" Oishi pondered aloud.

"Yes, say someone who is drawn to happy things picks a depressing word. They would have to think much harder about their writing"

"Aah, I understand. So how do we assign the trigger words?"

"I propose we each pick one up, in alphabetical order" Fuji suggested calmly "They're folded, so there's no telling who will get what. Buchou, that would make you last. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, that means Echizen picks first. Come on."

Ryoma, who had been sat on a bench seemingly ignoring everyone the entire time, stood and picked up the folded piece of paper closest to his foot. He unfolded it, cocked a brow and returned to the bench.

Fuji studied the eight pieces of paper carefully before he decided on the one furthest away from him, just to be different. He opened it. "Aah," he smiled "This could be interesting"

Inui was next to choose, taking a piece from the middle of the selection on the floor. He muttered "Probability of this being very difficult…98.32 percent…"

Kaidoh picked up the piece of paper to the right of the one Inui had taken. Opening it, he blushed furiously. "Fushuuuuuuuu……"

Kawamura took the piece he could reach first and opened it without any particular reaction.

Eiji giggled, very excited about the whole process. He closed his eyes and waved his arm about for a moment before grabbing the first random piece of paper he felt. He beamed and punched the air as he returned to his seat.

Next person to choose was Momo, who took the paper furthest to the left. He paused as he read it, but didn't say anything.

Oishi was the last person to choose, since Tezuka would take the trigger word left over. He took the paper on the right in his right hand, and the last one in his left. He handed the latter to Tezuka. "Good luck" he smiled. The two of them opened their papers. Oishi blinked a few times before putting the paper in his pocket. Being his usual emotionless self, Tezuka gave no indication of his feelings towards his trigger word at all. He referred back to the original laminated sheet.

"It says here that all pieces of writing must be finished and put in this envelope by Monday"

"_Why_?!" Momo groaned "It's Friday today! This will take me like three weeks to do!"

"Also, why does it need to be returned? Are they being marked like a class project, or used for more psychology studies?"

"Perhaps that woman is coming back" Ryoma mumbled from the bench on the far side of the room, scratching his head and wondering what on earth he was going to write for such a word.

"She _is_ going to use them for more studies!" gasped Eiji "Miss Yuriko's probably going to probe our brains or something!"

"Don't be silly. Now, the paper says to be completely honest in your writing and don't be afraid that something isn't suitable to be put in. This is your writing and you should make like you are the only person who will ever read it-even though she's probably going to be reading it, don't think about that. We'd better get going; we only have to days to do this." Everyone nodded in agreement and, taking up their things, made their ways home. It was nine very confused regulars who passed through Seishun Gakuen's gates that evening.

"How-"

"-on Earth-"

"-am I supposed-"

"-to write-"

"-_anything_ about this crazy word?"

"Fushuuuuuuuu…"


	2. Loneliness

_Loneliness…_

"Echizen?" Ryoma jumped and snapped his notebook shut. "Working on your writing thing already?"

"Momo…" the younger boy sighed; he needed _privacy_ to work on his project, and as much as he enjoyed Momo's company, he didn't want him to read his work. He made a shooing gesture with his free hand, his notebook tightly shut in the other.

"Aaaw, Echizen, let me see. At least tell me which word you got" Ryoma just shook his head and made the shooing gesture again. "Well, I was talking to An-chan earlier and she said the Fudomine guys have to do this too, and _they_ all told each other their words."

"Nothing to do with us, Momo-senpai…"

"Yes it is, they had the same pack of words as us! I only know what her brother and Kamio got so far, and if you won't tell me what you got, I'll assume you got a really awkward one like rhythm-boy did." The freshman paused and gave Momo a questioning look, urging him to continue. "_Love_"

When Momo said that, it was as if the atmosphere of the park had frozen, an awkward silence hanging over the two of them as both waited for the other to say something. That was _not_ a word to be said in the other's company.

"Well, I didn't get it"

"Neither did I, I wonder who did? Maybe Eiji has it, it's the kind of thing he'd like to write about and he seemed pretty happy at what he got…" The older of the pair stopped talking when he noticed a boy with flaming red hair sat on a bench nearby, eating an ice cream in the same enthusiastic, incredibly messy manner Eiji did. Momo grinned and left, giving Ryoma the peace he had wanted.

_Loneliness is just a shorter term for a lack of company. Sort of. Well, not really. Lack of company is something people get all the time, I like a lack of company sometimes, but loneliness…No, they're completely different. Loneliness isn't about having nobody with you, I used to get lonely a lot and I was always surrounded by people, and yet when I'm by myself, I'm not lonely. My head hurts._

He looked up from his notebook and saw Momo chatting to Eiji, the pair of them laughing loudly and poking each other. He also noticed that Momo now had an ice cream too, and knew all too well that today was one of those days when his violet eyed friend had left his wallet somewhere ridiculous like in the bathroom or in his underwear drawer.

Heh…they were always good at getting treats from Eiji, he really was a pushover when it came to things like that. Having an idea, Ryoma stood up, closed his notebook again and went to talk to Eiji for a while.

When Eiji had to leave, Ryoma took out his book and started scribbling down all he could remember.

_Two older students I know are best friends, but they're in different classes so even they must feel lonely sometimes. They have other friends too, but they're probably tighter than my parents. Kikumaru-senpai says if you're truly close to someone, you can't be lonely because they're always with you in your heart. That doesn't make sense, once I left all of my friends behind and I'd never felt so lonely in my whole life. But I don't know if it was all of them or just one. Because even when I got back I felt lonely, until I found just one friend in particular._

"Have you ever felt lonely, Momo-senpai?" Ryoma mumbled out of the blue as the former rejoined him on his bench. He sat back and thought quietly for a while.

"Yes, yes I have"

"When?" Momo didn't respond, he just stayed quiet, looking up at the sky and thinking again. Ryoma didn't mind the silence, it wasn't awkward like before; it was calming. So calming, in fact, Ryoma had found himself quite lost in Momo's eyes for a second, the sunshine making them glitter amethyst. He winced as a sudden click from under the bench made him realise he had dropped his pen, about to reach through the planks of the bench to retrieve it, he froze. His companion had idly placed his hand on Ryoma's, Momo began to grin.

"Want to know when I _stop_ being lonely?"

"Go ahead…"

"When I'm with you, shortstop" Momo chuckled, ruffled Ryoma's hair and left. Ryoma opened his mouth to speak, but instead smiled contentedly as his friend walked away.

_I got back from America feeling like I was completely lost and on my own. I made my way to the tennis courts and Momo-senpai was there. He flashed me that usual stupid, cheesy grin and I knew from then on I would never be lonely again._


	3. Smile

_Smile_

'_Smile' means a lot of things to me. My smile is something I take very good care of to the point of obsession, according to Oishi-kun. Brushing my teeth is one of my favourite hobbies; I smile a lot so my teeth need to look nice. That makes sense, nya?_

"Eiji! Chika needs a walk!"

"I walked him yesterday!" Eiji called from the bathroom, doubting his sister could hear him as talking was currently a challenge. He was already multitasking enough what with trying to clean his teeth and write at the same time. That and his sister's dog was yapping his head off. "Besides, he's _your_ dog."

"I'm going out tonight!"

"In _two hours_, sis! I have stuff to do that'll take me all night, I've barely started!" a defeated mutter came from somewhere downstairs before the front door closed and the yapping finally stopped. Deciding it was safe; Eiji left the bathroom and locked himself in his bedroom to get some peace to do his work.

_I smile a lot, maybe too much, everything makes me smile, even when I've hurt myself or someone's been mean to me. Are they proper smiles or something else? I guess there are four types of smile, in all._

_Your average smile you wear day to day, like when someone else offers to pay for drinks after practice or you just won a game against someone._

_Fake smiles, like the ones scary salesmen wear when they're trying to sell you life insurance even though you're fourteen years old and have never been seriously sick. There _is_ that disastrous cruise trip to think about, though, maybe I do need life insurance…_

Seriously _creepy smiles like that one Fuji-kun has on every single day. Rain or shine, win or lose, he's always got that freaky smile on that haunts your dreams if you think about it too much._

_Finally, true, special smiles you only wear when you're truly happy. Only one person makes me smile like that._

Regardless of the fact he had just cleaned his teeth, Eiji pulled out a box from under his bed that was full of cookies. He took one, chuckling a little at the blue smiley face iced on top. Taking a bite he continued to scribble down his random musings.

_Oh, also 'smiles' are a kind of cookie I like to make sometimes. I made them with Oishi-kun yesterday, and it was fun even though more dough got thrown around the kitchen than actually into the oven. I've made them with Fuji-kun too, but it's just not the same. Especially since he mastered making the cookies look like his own scary smile. I've been put off making smiles with Fuji-kun for a while, at least until the nightmares stop._

_Oops, chocolate smudge on my page, nya._

_Anyway, hanging out with Oishi was fun, eating cookies and trying to get dough out of our hair. I was really, really apologetic when we thought we were going to have to cut some of it out of Oishi's hair (luckily we didn't, an hour of hair washing did the job in the end) but he just laughed and that made me smile._

"Eiji! Can you feed Tsuki?"  
"She's _your_ parakeet, mom!" whined Eiji. He was _just_ getting into his writing properly when someone had to interrupt.

"Grandma, Grandpa, your Father and I are all going out tonight and I need to start getting ready now, I need you to feed Tsuki."

"Can't someone else do it?"  
"Both of your brothers are going out tonight with friends-" Eiji was about to interrupt "-_and_ both of your sisters. You don't have anything to do so _please_ just feed Tsuki. You could have done it by now" Mrs Kikumaru knocked on Eiji's bedroom door. When he gave no response, she continued to knock in a most irritating fashion.

"I have a project to-" Eiji heard his mother walk away and gave up. Closing his notebook he got up and left the room to feed the blasted parakeet.

_I swear to you now, Tsuki the parakeet just smiled at me. You may say parakeets can't smile but they do, and dogs. Chika jumped on my stomach at three in the morning because my sister forgot to lock the garage door, and while I was muttering and swearing to myself he just kept licking me and giving me a creepy dog-smile._

_Lucky Fuji-kun doesn't have a dog. That would have the most hauntingly mind scarring smile _ever_._

_I've never asked Oishi-kun if he likes dogs, he doesn't have pets, just fish. They don't count because they're boring. Do fish smile? Oishi-kun smiles a lot when we watch his fish together, I haven't a clue why. They're nice fish, Mr Sharky and Sushi-Moo and Jaws and all the others, but they don't do anything funny._

_Why does everything I say come back to Oishi-kun?_

The redhead sat back in his bed and sighed. His whole family were now out, and he was stuck by himself. The adults were going to a play, then to a restaurant. His eldest sister was with her boyfriend. His brothers were both with friends, one at the bar and one at someone's house. His other sister was at a sleepover. Eiji was alone with just the sleeping dog and the squawking parakeet for company.

He definitely didn't feel like smiling right now.

There was a knock at the front door; a quiet, nervous knock that made Eiji hopeful. He almost fell over his feet as he scurried downstairs to answer, he didn't care who it was so long as they would keep him company for a while, though he had his mind set on one person in particular.

"Eiji-kun?"

"Oishi-kun!" Eiji beamed and threw his arms around his friend "I've been so bored and lonely, Oishi-kun! Everyone's out!"  
"Ah…" Eiji's best friend smiled shyly "I guess that means you'd want to come out with me? There's this movie I've been wanting to see and I heard through the grapevine you'd be on your own tonight so…"  
"Let me just finish something and get ready, ok? Come in, come in, Oishi-kun!" the acrobat was suddenly full of energy, pulling Oishi inside and bounding upstairs to get ready. Pulling a comb through his tangled hair, he noticed his notebook sitting abandoned on his desk.

_Oishi-kun is the only person who makes me smile properly. I'm always smiling when I'm with him, and he smiles a lot when we're together, too._

"Eiji-kun? Your parakeet's food bowl is empty, should I fill it?"  
"She's grouchy, Oishi-kun, let me do it…"

_Tsuki is very grouchy tonight. She pecked my cheek hard, very very hard, and it hurts. Oishi-kun kissed it better._

_I don't care how painful it is, smile number four just won't come off._


	4. Confidence

_Confidence_

_Confidence, hah, we all know who's got that. Littlest big-shot I ever did see, though I gotta admit he's got the skills to back it up._

"What're you writing, Takeshi? What, what?!"

"Go _away_, Nina" Momo growled, trying to pull his notebook away from his youngest sister. "I'm _trying_ to get my project done"

"Confidence, Takeshi? My teacher was talking about confidence today; I'll help you with your homework!"

"I don't need…" it was no use, the surprisingly strong six year old yanked the book from her big brother's grasp and ran off with it, giggling. Momo sighed and rolled his eyes; _sure_, Nina was gonna have a lot of fun with that. The book was mostly filled with his class notes, and he had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that his sister wasn't quite up to eighth grade physics level yet. Knowing his sister's penchant for hiding things, Momo decided to find another notebook to write in and copy it into his first book later.

_I'm confident too, but _he's_ just plain cocky. You've gotta be confident to be on the tennis team, I guess – except Taka-san, but he's got that burning thing – but shortstop just crosses the line._

_Not like I'm complaining or anything._

_That Echizen, what is it about him that does arrogant so damn well? I mean, at least he's not li_

"That's my pen" Momo looked up and was faced with his other sister; nine year old Kameko. The girl tweaked her glasses "I need it for my math homework, can I have it back?"  
"I'm using it, Turtle" Kameko scowled at the nickname "You can have it back later"

"I need to do my homework _now_, Takeshi, and that's not yours. I'll have that back" she quickly swiped the pen from his hand despite his resistance "and since you took my pen without asking, I'll have your book." Before Momo could do a thing, Kameko was walking out of the room with his book clasped to her chest. _And _the pen.

No wonder Momo was a power player, strength ran in the family. He just hated having that strength used against him, particularly when it was his little sisters. Despairing, Momo hunted down whatever he could find to write with.

_Damn this pink crayon, it's all waxy and it's getting all over my hand and my shirt. And the paper's pink, too. I can barely see what I'm writing._

_Where was I? Oh yeah, Echizen and his arrogance. Sure his unwavering cockiness is annoying but at least he's not Atobe._

_Echizen in purple frills is not a good mental image, not at all._

_Anyw_

"That's Nina's crayon you're using" Momo groaned as Kameko's blank voice met his ears "and she wants it back. Also, your physics notes are all wrong; Nina gave me your other notebook in exchange for getting _this_ from you" in a display of speed to rival both Kamio and Shishido put together, Kameko snatched the crayon and left, calling back to Momo "your notes suck, Takeshi, there _is_ a difference between AC and DC!""

Momo sighed; deciding now was a good time to leave the house.

--

"Momoshiro-kun? Hellooooooooo!" Momo froze, he had just been walking through the park by himself, nice and quiet, then someone had called his name. His eyes darted from side to side but there was nobody there. "Yoohoooooo! Above your head, silly!"

The second year looked up into the trees; stretched out on a thick branch with a notebook in his lap was Akutagawa Jiroh. The older boy beamed.

"Jiroh-kun? What're you doing up there?!"  
"My project, join me!"

Momo scrambled up the tree and sat on a branch next to Jiroh. It was a nice view; you could see the whole park from up there: little children playing, couples sitting on the bridge, and what Momo made out to be none other than Seigaku's golden pair splashing above in the river, playing some shouty mish-mash of tag and British bulldog. "Nice view, what's the project?"  
"Aah, that arty hearty thingy. I drew 'smile', lucky me! So I'm writing things that make me smile and the park makes me smile, so I came here. I heard Buchou has to write about love, poor guy. I was writing with him this morning but he wouldn't show me what he'd written and kept looking at me…look at my project, Momoshiro-kun! Tell me if it's bad!"

Momo read the sprawly writing quickly, as Jiroh hadn't written very much. It was all in bright blue gel pen.

"Let's see…_I smile lots, lots of stuff makes me smile. Sleeping and pretty things and the park and sleeping and tennis and sweets and Buchou all make me smile. Buchou is always funny when I smile at him, he goes all red and slinks away. I like red, and cats slink and I like cats, so when he slinks away I smile more. Then all my team mates laugh, and them laughing makes me happy and I smile even more…_ I like it, Jiroh-kun. It's very…you" Momo chuckled. "I'm meant to be doing my own project, but my sisters…"

"My sister kept interrupting me; too, that's why I'm up a tree and not on the ground where she has a chance of finding me. Have some of my notebook and write with me, Momoshiro-kun, I have another pen…"

_Confidence is a great thing. It makes you happy, makes people like you, it's really, really awesome. So awesome, in fact, I can't think of any words to describe it._

_Dammit, why didn't I get 'smile'? That would've been so much easier to write about. Confidence…pleh, it all leads back to Echizen. Echizen and his smug little face and his laugh and his mada-mada-dane and his…his…aaah, what the hell am I doing? Jiroh-kun is looking at me and laughing, I think he's reading this._

"That I am"

"Stop it…"

_Echizen…and his god-damn confident snarky adorableness…damn him…_

Momo sighed and looked up from his work, Jiroh was snoring softly, his notebook now over his face. He grinned and looked down where there was quite the commotion going on.

"Gah! Th-this kid! He's unreal!"  
"He's some kind of phenom!"

"G-get him away from me!"  
"What's wrong?" a familiar snarky voice floated up to Momo from below. "I thought you guys were gonna teach a little brat like me some tennis…"

"Ne, Echizen!" Momo leapt out of the tree and landed beside his freshman friend. The group of men with rackets froze.

"E-Echizen?!"

"Let's get out of here!"

The men fled, and deciding it wasn't too immoral to take Jiroh's pen, Momo punched Ryoma's shoulder playfully and left with him, blushing lightly as the younger boy took his arm.

_Confidence…maybe I'll be confident enough one day…_


	5. Dreams

_Dreams_

_I never really had a dream. Be a doctor? Hm, I don't know. What is a dream anyway? Is it different to an aim or a goal? My aim is to win for my partner. My goal was to be half of the best double team in Japan. My dream is…_

_I'm not writing my _dream_ dreams here, thank you._

"The sky is like my hair, nya" Eiji smiled, leaning against Oishi's shoulder and sighing happily. "I like sunset, do you like sunset?"  
"I prefer sunrise, myself." The two boys sat back. An arm around the other, gazes to the sky and toes dipping gently in the water below, Eiji and Oishi sat at Lover's Crossing.

They weren't _together_ or anything, that would be _gay_, the bridge was just a very nice place to sit. A nice place to sit and ignore the stares.

They _weren't gay_!

They just held hands and embraced and kissed each other on the cheeks because they were very, very secure in themselves. They were just good friends who weren't afraid to be intimate with their affections. Just friends, nothing more.

At least, that was what Oishi told himself. He told himself day in, day out, until he was in the privacy of his own dreams. In his dreams there was nobody else, just him and Eiji, absolute privacy…_…to hold him, to kiss him, to whisper the words I've always so longed to say…_

Oops. Oishi erased the entire paragraph, blushing furiously.

"Show me your writing? I wrote mine forever ago, nyaaa" the redhead snuggled into Oishi's arm, purring and beaming. Oishi looked back to his page.

No good, those shameful words wouldn't rub out properly.

"Aah…let me write a bit more"

"I wrote about smiling, you know" giggled Eiji, pushing Oishi's notebook out of the way to rest his head in his companion's lap (which was just another thing they did, they _were totally not gay!!_) "You make me smile, nya, you make me smile a lot, and I wrote about how we make cookies together and we play around with cookie dough and…" Eiji yawned "and…and I'm sleepy…"

"Then sleep" Oishi ruffled his partner's hair "I'm not going anywhere, go to sleep"

Within seconds, the shorter of the pair did just that.

_It's hard to write with your best friend snoozing in your lap. Especially THERE in your lap. It's awkward and uncomfortable but comfortable and perfect and IT'S MAKING ME FEEL STRANGE._

_Oh dear _Oishi paused as Eiji, still asleep, wrapped his arms around his waist. _Very oh dear. I can't write like this, I feel odd…_

Eiji muttered and purred, smiling softly as he slept and nuzzling into Oishi's lap. The latter blushed deeply, biting back a mumble of…something.

_I dream about a lot of things, about school, about homework, about vacations, about silly fantasies, clouds and new worlds and all that. But Eiji is always there, no matter what I dream. Be it a long, drawn out dream like an adventure, or a dream with less…structure… _Oishi went red …_there's always Eiji. Always, h_

Eiji snuggled in again and shifted a little, causing Oishi to jolt and bite his lip _incredibly_ hard to prevent himself from making any noise. By the time Oishi could think clearly again, his pencil was a good way down the river. He sighed and ruffled Eiji's hair, hoping he had a spare somewhere.

"Syuichiro…" Oishi paused as Eiji mumble something that could only be his name. The redhead shifted and muttered again "Syuichiro…"

"Eiji?"  
"Mm…"

Oh dear. This was _not_ going to end well if Oishi didn't do something.

"Wake up Eiji…" Oishi whispered, gently shaking his friend. Though it appeared fruitless at first, eventually the shorter boy's eyes fluttered open, his cheeks flushed a little.

"Oishi?" Eiji smiled, blushing faintly. "You woke me?"  
"You were mumbling…"  
"Oh…"

"My name"

Eiji stayed quiet and looked up at the sky, the darkness masking the blush across his cheeks. There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them.

Eiji whispered "The stars are beautiful"

"They are"

"Could just reach out and touch them…it's so clear tonight, like after the Nationals! It was lovely then, nya!"

_Winning the Nationals felt like a dream, Eiji and I had reached our goal together after years of hard work, of teamwork. There was that insane party afterwards and after that…_

Oishi blushed and sighed happily; it _was_ like that night tonight. The sky a deep, endless indigo littered with glittering stars, a bright moon illuminating the pair…and Eiji.

_Eiji_

He was pale, almost white from the moonlight, his blue eyes twinkling happily with the stars. He looked _gorgeous_. Just like then, too. Just like he had when they were walking home together and they sat on this bridge and…

Oishi slapped himself before his thoughts went any further on.

"I like it here, nya…it's always so pretty, no matter what time of day. It's so calm and nice and you're here, that's nice, nya" Eiji sat up and leaned against Oishi's shoulder again. "It's always nice with you, nya. Always be here"

"I will…"

The acrobat giggled when he noticed Oishi's notebook sat beside them, no pencil in sight. "Nyaaa, you dropped the pencil in the river, silly!" he pulled a little of his friend's fringe playfully "Silly, silly Oishi. Fujiko says Rikkaidai are doing this writing thingy too, he's writing a list of everyone he knows who drew the word love"

Trust Fuji to do a weird thing like that. "So who has it, then?"

"Nyaaa…" Eiji began to count on his fingers "Atobe from Hyoutei, Sanada from Rikkai, Kamio from Fudomine, Dan in Yamabuki-"

"What about in Seigaku?"

"He doesn't know, though he reckons Inui-kun has it. He said his word was gonna be a toughie!"

Oishi thought for a minute. "Yes, but Buchou isn't one to show how he feels about anything, so for all anyone knows _he_ has it. Or Echizen"

"I've seen Echizen's, nya, he got loneliness. I know Fujiko's and he doesn't have it- oh! Number five; Yuuta-kun has it too!" Eiji giggled "Imagine him!"

"You told me yours, so Momo-kun, Taka-san, Buchou, Inui-kun or Kaidoh-kun could have it."

"And you" the redhead prodded Oishi "You could have 'love' too"

"I don't"

"I do"

"You just said you didn't!" Oishi blinked, noticing a blush on Eiji's face.

"Not the word…the…um…" at a loss for what to say, Eiji kissed Oishi's cheek quickly and shuffled along the bridge, looking down into the water shamefully.

_My dreams…my dream is…_

Oishi smiled warmly and took Eiji's wrist, pulling him into a hug. With a few whispered words and loving snuggles, the pair kissed softly. An arm around the other, gazes to the sky and toes dipping gently into the water below, Eiji and Oishi sat at Lover's Crossing.

_My dream is to be by Eiji's side forever._


	6. Love

_Love_

_Love is stupid_

Kaidoh shut his notebook and hissed in frustration. Why _love_, of all words? What else could you _say_ about it? It was stupid, that was all there was to it. It made perfectly sensible people say and do stupid things, it made stupid girls make stupid gifts for you every single stupid day.

Love was just _stupid_.

_Love is just plain ridiculous, day in and day out girls stalk my team mates, insisting that they 'love' them. Couples being way way way too over the top in public don't notice when you glare at them or tell them to stop because they say they're just 'too in love' to get a room. Love is gross._

He sighed and pulled a face; love was _everywhere_ for something so disgusting. Every book, every movie, even the cartoons Hazue always watched in the mornings had love in them. _Cartoons_! With comic blushes and little hearts and flowers and _urgh_.

_Love is difficult, it's painful and confusing and horrible and it only leads to ruin. It destroys stable relationships and the only thing you get out of it is a broken heart and a whole world of hurt. It's so much more complicated than it is in cartoons, it's so much harder, it doesn't just involve finding someone good looking, it needs trust and time and_

_Oh __**ew**_

_I sound like Oishi-senpai_

Kaidoh's parents were in love, Kaidoh hoped. They never acted like it, but they were married so they had to be. Parents were just not affectionate like the people on subways or park benches or pretty much _anywhere_ Kaidoh had the misfortune to be. Maybe it was a marriage thing, or just being older. All the people going O.T.T. in the middle of the street would mature one day and stop, right?

_Maybe not Kikumaru-senpai. He'll be flinging himself at people past his seventies._

What exactly _was_ love, anyway? Oishi-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai always talked about it and they would go on a long ramble of emotional crap that drove Kaidoh rather insane. But then, they were just rambly-emotional-crap people anyway, they could probably go off on an hour-long sappy tangent about _anything_. Inui-senpai preferred facts and figures to fluffy stuff, but he never gave Kaidoh a straight answer about anything either. He was always really vague and confusing, or he'd use painfully precise numbers and statistics and details and really _really_ long words that made Kaidoh's head hurt.

Fuji-senpai said Kikumaru-senpai and Oishi-senpai were in love, but _they_ weren't like the weird people who couldn't get a room. They acted pretty normal, they just talked and played tennis and acted like normal guys. Except perhaps those times when Kaidoh caught them looking at each other and not actually doing or saying anything for more than five minutes at a time, or when their embraces lasted a little too long, or when they would idly hold hands on the courts without noticing, like it was the most natural thing in the world for them.

Hell, maybe they _were_ in love after all.

_All the freaky girls say Kikumaru-senpai and Oishi-senpai are in love, which has something to it I guess, but they don't half spout some crap. Two weeks ago a girl came up to me and asked me if Fuji-senpai and Buchou were an 'item'. Blech. Fuji-senpai may be a little…forward with Buchou but that's just him, he's just a flirt anyway. Last week, another girl asked me about Echizen and Momoshiro. Echizen and Momoshiro?!_

_Yesterday, a group of girls approached me in the lunch room…_

Aah, how Kaidoh wanted to forget that ever happened. He'd just been eating his lunch as normal when a girl ran over to him. "I love you" she'd said. Kaidoh knew the girl from his English class and found her pleasant enough, so rather than simply ignoring her he apologised and said he didn't return the sentiment. He was pretty pleased with himself for being so controlled. She took the news amicably and left, but then along came her friends…

"_How dare you refuse Mi-chan!" one of them yelled, making the whole hall look at me. "She loved you with all her heart and you just brush her off!"_

"_She's lovely! How can you not accept her?!"_

"_I know" said one "Maybe he doesn't want her because he wants guys"_

…"he spends all his time with Inui-san. He's in love with Inui-san! _Kaidoh is in love with Inui-san!_" That moment, everything froze. Why did she have to shout? Why did everyone else have to be quiet? _Why did Inui have to come through the lunchroom door at that exact moment_? Kaidoh had frozen, he'd blushed like a tomato, and he'd fled. Why did he run? Why didn't he go to Inui and explain things like a man?

Because he was in love with Inui-senpai?

_NO_

Instead, he'd run off and hidden for the rest of the day, then refused to speak to Inui during the whole of practice. That always worked, Kaidoh knew that, if you avoided something like that long enough, it would just go away.

And then he drew this _god damn word_!

_Love hurts, a lot, especially when you know it's someone you can't have and will never have; it's just stupid and unnecessary, and the world would be a much better place without it. It makes you miss easy shots in tennis matches because you're looking the wrong way, it makes you trip yourself up during practice runs, just to feel the comforting touch of the person you pine for and to hear their voice full of genuine concern, like you're the only person in the whole world that matters to them._

Kaidoh's phone buzzed on the desk beside him. He picked it up.

**Kaidoh-kun: the females in the lunchroom yesterday were behaving illogically, there is a 97.34 percent chance of their statements being unfounded. Training tomorrow? ~Inui**

_Love is stupid._

_And I love it so much._


	7. Hunger

_Hunger_

_I'm hungry?_

"This is a silly word, Yuuta, what do I do? Talk about wasabi?" Syuusuke sighed into the phone. He'd called Eiji already, who had nothing to say on the subject of _anything_ other than how wonderful Oishi was and what a tender kisser he was. As glad Syuusuke was that the Golden Pair had _finally_ resolved all of that romantic tension that everyone on the courts was feeling for about six months, he needed _help_, and it wasn't very often that the tensai genuinely needed help.

He couldn't ask Tezuka, this wasn't a Tezuka matter. Besides, he just didn't ask him for help. He already owed him enough favours for constantly borrowing his English dictionary. (He could easily borrow someone else's, but Syuusuke would simply say he was too shy to ask which they both knew all too well was a lie. He would rather die than admit that no other dictionary had that distinct feel, _aura_ of Tezuka)

If he couldn't go to Eiji, he would ask Oishi, but he would probably just start talking about Eiji. Cute, yes, but not when Syuusuke needed to talk about something else.

Inui? He'd never get a straight answer from him. Taka? Always busy. Any of the lowerclassmen? No, no and no. So Syuusuke called the only person he could ask and the last person who could ever give him a decent answer. His little brother.

_I like wasabi? This isn't working._

"I don't know! You've got it easer than me!"

"Yuuta, love is simple to write about, just don't write anything filthy. In fact, don't you _dare_ get Mizuki to help you!"

"I wouldn't dream of showing him" Syuusuke paused, noticing a shake in his brother's voice.

"Why so shy talking about love with Mizuki? Is there something you aren't telling me? Oh goodness, Yuuta, don't tell me that the reason you got so flustered when I called you is because Mizuki was utterly _ravishing _you until the phone rang? Is he there now?" he chuckled, satisfied with his brother's confused splutters on the other end of the line.

_I don't like this at all, it's not funny. I don't struggle with anything as a rule, and now I've been sat here for over an hour and this is as far as I've got._

_I'm hungry?_

_No, that officially doesn't work._

"Aniki! Don't be so disgusting!"  
"Just asking a simple question, I mean, it's obvious you have a crush on him. Remember when he came over for dinner? All you did that evening was watch his mouth."

More splutters. "I did not!"  
"You did, and you walked him home, and you came back with the faintest shimmer of gloss on your lips, it was very cute. Now, can you give me any help at all with my writing? I'm stuck"  
"I'm stuck enough on my own…"

Syuusuke sighed and waited patiently for an even _slightly_ useful answer from his sibling, when he heard Yuuta's dorm mates shouting suggestions for his baby brother's work.

"…Yuuta, whoever just told you to write porn, give them a hard slapping."

An 'ow, dane!' followed, and Yuuta told him he couldn't keep talking, it was time for breakfast. He hung up, and Syuusuke was by himself again.

_Let's see what Thesaurus has to say about hunger:_

_Ache, appetence, appetency, appetition, craving, desire, gluttony, greed, longing, lust…_

_**Lust…**_

Syuusuke lay back on his bed and, for the first time that morning, started to think. He could definitely relate to that, though it may not be something to be proud of. The tensai closed his eyes and thought of the number one thing he went back to when he thought of lust.

Tezuka.

_Lust, that makes everything easier. A fifteen year old shouldn't feel lust as much as I do, but I do. I like Tezuka-kun, I like him as my friend, but I want him as my lover. I don't just want his body or anything, that wouldn't be right, but if someone did, I could definitely see were they were coming from, to say he's attractive would be an understatement._

_I don't just want that either though, he's handsome, he's intelligent, but I want him because he's a challenge._

_Maybe I don't want him at all, and all I really want is to crack someone as stoic as him._

_That makes me sound like a slut._

Syuusuke didn't like that.

_Am I a slut? The more I think about it the more I think I am. I've never had a real heart to heart with him, yet I steal glances in the locker rooms and daydream about what I want to do to him, what I want him to do to me._

_Oh God, I sound like a little whore._

Syuusuke picked up his phone; he needed to ask an urgent question. Eiji? No. Oishi? More no. Everybody he knew? Absolutely no. Not Yuuta, either, though he'd probably get some delightful comments from Yuuta's friends.

…Tezuka?

Tezuka would be honest, right? He would either answer honestly or say nothing at all, he wasn't a liar. Smiling a little, Syuusuke pressed the call button.

"Aa?"  
"Hello Tezuka-kun" Syuusuke twinkled, practically sending little sparkles down the phone with his voice, "I wanted to ask a question."

"At eight o'clock in the morning?"  
"Am I a slut?"

Syuusuke really didn't know what it was about him that was making everyone splutter like a dying car that morning, but it had to be pretty bad as even the usually emotionless Tezuka was alarmed.

"Why," Tezuka said blankly, composing himself, "are you asking me this?"  
"Because I have reached an epiphany that I'm a cheap little trollop. I need a little guidance on changing my image"

"Your image is fine, you're not…ahem…" Tezuka trailed off.

_Oh crap. Crap crap crap crap crap. CRAP. Even Tezuka is trying to lie to me._

"Don't lie, Tezuka-kun, I asked you because I thought you would be honest."

"Fuji-kun…"  
"If you think I'm a hussy, tell me so now before I embarrass myself further. _Please_ Tezuka-kun!"

Tezuka was silent for a little while.

"…well, you could stop with the lingerie…"

"Oh, something _else_ please?" Syuusuke whined.

…_there is NOTHING wrong with my underwear; he doesn't even have to see it much anyway. Only those times when I wear the red lacy thong under the white trousers. I only wear them occasionally._

_Wait, occasionally meaning every time Tezuka comes over._

_They even say 'lust' on the label!!_

Tezuka was completely silent.

"Fine…bye Tezuka-kun, see you at school tomorrow." Syuusuke hung up and sighed, looking back to his writing.

_Hunger, lust, desire, I like those words, but they sound so selfish, so desperate. I hunger for Tezuka, but it doesn't mean he's the only thing in my life, I have friends, I have school, I have a little brother to protect from similarly lustful senpais._

_Does anything I've written make sense?_

_This is nuts._

_I just ate until I was full, but I'm still hungry._

_I hunger for Tezuka_

_And I can't write sense on an empty stomach._


	8. Simplicity

_Simplicity_

_The state, quality, or an instance of being simple._

_Freedom from complexity, intricacy, or division into parts: __**an organism of great simplicity.**_

_Absence of luxury, pretentiousness, ornament, etc.; plainness: __**a life of simplicity**_.

_Freedom from deceit or guile; sincerity; artlessness; naturalness: __**simplicity of manner.**_

_Lack of mental acuteness or shrewdness: __**Politics is not a field for simplicity about human nature.**_

Inui pushed up his glasses and looked at the clock. It was 9:13 AM, he had been writing for eight minutes and forty-eight seconds, he had written sixty-one words including the title, and there was a 99.86 percent chance he needed to write a lot more than that.

He had already asked his mother what he should do next, and she gave him the vague advice; 'ask one of your friends'.

He had called Tezuka, but he was immediately distracted by Fuji on the other line. By the time Fuji hung up Tezuka had said sorry, but he really needed to go have a think to himself.

Inui decided to call Renji, who had an 84.342 percent chance of giving him some sound advice.

"Sadaharu? I apologise for the background noise, my phone has been stuck on loudspeaker for the past three hours, fourty-five minutes and fifty-eight seconds, and I'm at Seiichi's house."

"_Seiichi, can I turn the volume up?"_

"_Sure, Hana"  
"Pass the chips, Hana?"  
"Okay Akaya-san"_

"Aa, it's nothing private, Renji"

"Oh good, about thirty-four minutes ago my mother called with something regarding my doctor's appointment that I didn't want made public"

"_You mean how you've got a rash on your-"  
_"Kirihara-kun."

"Well, you should know the writing task that numerous schools around Japan have been given to complete. After sixty-one words I'm wondering what to say next. My word is simplicity, by the way."  
"Mm, I've got the same as you, and I haven't started"

Oh, looks like probability wasn't on Inui's side.

"_When I get stuck on saying what something is I always start rambling about what it isn't"  
"Kirihara, that's stupid"  
"It isn't, Sanada-san, it works!"  
"Hana's on my side!"_

"Sorry Sadaharu, I don't think I can help you with this one."

"No matter, Renji, I've just had an idea which should last me roughly one hundred and twenty four words."

_Kaidoh._

_Kaidoh is __**not**__ a simple matter._

_His training menus are simple. For every time his activity levels are raised by 20 percent, 5 percent more carbohydrate intake is required. For a 10 percent speed increase or 7.35 percent power increase, activity levels must be raised 15.8 percent._

_That is simple. The math is simple. Everything works out nicely on paper._

_Kaidoh on the outside is simple. Black vest, size 14, white shorts, tanned, black hair, green bandana, 173 centimetres tall, 5 feet and 8.11023622047243 inches._

_Kaidoh on the inside is not so simple. I would go on, but that's all I know._

_Come to think of it, Kaidoh has been very militant when it comes to blocking me out of his personal affairs._

Why _was_ that? Kaidoh couldn't have anything to _hide_, could he? With a younger brother like Hazue and chatty mother like Hozumi, Kaidoh couldn't keep a secret very secret for long, and Inui was constantly treated to little snippets of personal information, like Kaidoh's favourite children's TV show, which he apparently still watched, or his pre-school fear of ladybirds.

_Is Kaidoh-kun afraid of me?_

_Considering his absolute privacy, that is, unfortunately, logical._

_Too logical._

_I don't like it._

There was an 89.43739 percent chance of that being just the case, and something about that made Inui feel strange inside.

Concerned.

Scared?

Inui didn't get scared.

Definitely not, that would _not_ be logical. And because of this total logic and lack of fear Inui proceeded to text his predicament to a list of his friends.

Y'know, because Inui was calm and collected, and always used facts and figures, never emotions.

_**You have 9 new messages**_

_**Tezuka: Ask Fuji, he understands this kind of thing better than I do**_

_**Renji: Kaidoh being Bandana-kun? 100 percent chance I haven't a clue, sorry Sadaharu**_

_**Kikumaru: NYAA THAT IS SO CUTE (o^_^o)!!!!!!! 3**_

Wait when on earth did he ask Kikumaru? _Oh…oh dear, it appears I sent that message to more people than I intended._

_**Kawamura: Ummm I didn't see that coming. Maybe Fuji-kun or Oishi-kun could help you better with something like that**_

_**Momoshiro: lol, wrong number much Inui-senpai?**_

_**Echizen: Mada mada dane~**_

_**Mom: Your message doesn't make any sense to me Honey**_

Oh dear

_**Fuji: wheee I knew this day would come~ you're in love with him! You are are are are are! make a move Inui-kun! There is a 100 percent chance it'll work out I swear!**_

_**Oishi: aww…that's incredibly cute. I think you might be in love with him; you're so concerned it's actually adorable. You should talk to him about how you feel.**_

_Love…what…?_

_That's not simple either. Not at all. I'm going for a run to clear my head._

_---_

_Where was I?_

_Love isn't simple. Love is a complex mixture of different chemicals and hormones in the body. It also sucks. Kaidoh isn't simple, he's a complex mixture of different feelings and emotions and data I can't get at. The difference, and the one, single, __**only**__ difference, is that Kaidoh does not suck. Kaidoh is perfect._

_**You have 1 new message**_

_**Kaidoh:…I love you, you idiot**_

_~simply put, I'm very, very happy right now_


	9. Confusion

_Confusion_

_Three things that are not confusing: World History, tennis, Oishi-kun and Kikumaru-kun (the two seem to count as a single entity these days)_

_Three things that are confusing: Fuji, Fuji, Fuji._

…_why would he call at 8AM to ask strange questions?!_

Tezuka sat back on the bench and sighed, looking at the clouds. It was quiet in the park, but he still couldn't think.

Hah. He was confused.

Just two hours ago, he had been completely normal. Tidying a space on his desk to get to work on his assignment, _then_ the phone rang.

"Aa?"  
"Hello Tezuka-kun" oh…it was Fuji. "I wanted to ask a question."

"At eight o'clock in the morning?" Tezuka stretched a little. Fuji didn't often ask questions.  
"Am I a slut?"

Well, _that_ little doozy had made Tezuka fall off his chair, and for the past two hours he had been a very, very confused young boy. Why did Fuji ask him that? Why did Fuji think he could give him an answer? _Why didn't Tezuka know the answer?_

_Echizen is a mystery, but he's not confusing. Kaidoh is private, but he's not confusing. Fuji is an open book, but secretive and deceptive at the same time._

_That's confusing._

_The first time I was ever confused was when I was six years old, and my family had taken a trip to Chiba. I had become separated from them in a crowd, and didn't know what to do. I wandered for a while, coming across a small playground with three children. A boy with white hair, a boy with brown hair, and what appeared to be a little girl, also with brown hair. The girl ran to me, and turned out to be a boy. The three of them took me to the police station, and my parents found me about ten minutes later._

_Funny how the one person who causes me so much confusion now, helped me all those years ago._

Oh yes, Fuji lived in Chiba when he was a small child. What a shock Tezuka got, when the 'little girl' bumped into him in Seigaku's halls. **That** had confused him.

_Every confusion I've ever had can be linked to Fuji in some way._

Fuji, Fuji, _Fuji_! _Aggravating _boy! Tezuka was supposed to be mature, sophisticated and calm, but _he_ made Tezuka restless, nervy.

He made Tezuka _feel._

He made Tezuka feel strange things, new things, things he didn't want to feel, but once he felt them, he couldn't get enough. He made Tezuka's heart pound, his stomach twist into millions of billions of little knots before doing backflips and untying to unleash an army's worth of enormous butterflies.

All under a very carefully applied poker face, of course.

Fuji could barely be classed as a boy some days, the way he giggled, the way he tossed his hair, the way he gently, ever so slightly swung his hips as he walked. _The way he was such a seducer._

_Hmph, I don't know why I'm confused about his question, come to think, he should think he's…how he said, the way he acts._

The way he pushed Tezuka against the locker room wall and purred softly in his ear; _that_ made Tezuka feel things he didn't want to. _That_ confused him; _that_ made him uncomfortable to the extreme. It didn't matter if Fuji said afterwards he was only kidding, because he had _been kidding_ six times now, and it never got any more comfortable.

Tezuka didn't have emotions, Oishi tended to have emotions for him, second-hand. If Tezuka was scared, he would simply tell Oishi his situation in as blank and indifferent a voice as he could manage, and the vice captain would swiftly begin to panic for his sake. If he was happy, he would do the same. Angry, excited, nervous, the same. If he ever went to watch a movie, he would always have Oishi tag along, so if he ever felt at risk of crying in a sad part, he could regain composure with the reassurance that Oishi was blubbing enough for five somewhere on the other side of the room.

Oishi couldn't feel these sensations for him, he wouldn't understand. Oishi felt love. Longing, passion, desire, these were feelings Tezuka had to experience for himself, firsthand.

Longing, passion, desire, _confusion_.

Tezuka slammed the notebook shut and sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. _Damn_ Fuji for being so…himself.

_I hate being confused_

Annoying, confusing, flirtatious, seductive, beautiful, perfect, awful Fuji.

Annoying, confusing, flirtatious, seductive, beautiful, perfect, awful, walking-right-towards-him Fuji.

Sitting-right-beside-him Fuji.

Leaning-on-his-shoulder-Fuji.

Whispering-in-his-ear Fuji.

"You never answered my question…" the delicate boy's sweet voice had an audible hint of a smile to it.

"You hung up" was Tezuka's blank reply.

Closing-his-eyes Fuji.

Purring-softly Fuji.

Fuji Fuji.

Fuji.

"Fuji."

"Kiss me, Tezuka-kun"

_And for some reason, unknown to him, to man or God, he did._

An innocent brush of the lips quickly moved on at Fuji's will; less innocent, less lips, more touch, until Tezuka broke away for the sanity of the park bench and any passers-by.

"…you slut, Fuji" the tensai beamed, no, he _shone_.

"Only if I can be your slut"

_The only way to avoid confusion is to never let your guard down._

_Sometimes, guard is only optional._


	10. Focus

_Focus_

_I believe to truly succeed; you have to focus well on every aspect of your life. From your final exams to tying your shoes, without focus, everything will go pear shaped._

_Without focus, I would never have become the number one power player._

_Without focus, I will never take over my dad's business._

_But focus is something I'm willing to give, one-hundred and ten percent._

Kawamura looked up and smiled at his team mates; it was morning practice on a bright Monday morning, and because of how focused he was with his work at the sushi place over the weekend, he had forgotten about his assignment completely. Tezuka, after a little convincing from Fuji, was surprisingly understanding of this and let him sit out to finish it.

_All of the Seigaku regulars are focused to the extreme. They have to be, it's how we won the Nationals, after all. But they all go about it in different ways._

_Tezuka-Buchou is very outwardly focused, it's a huge part of his personality, he doesn't let his guard down._

_Fuji-kun has a calm focus about him, quietly studying his surroundings with a smile on his face. Only when he's really pushed does his true, passionate self show. Hahaha, he sounds like me._

_Momoshiro is strong willed, but hides it behind a grin and acts like everything he does is nothing._

_Echizen is just a mix of Buchou, Fuji and Momoshiro, haha. His three most major influences, I think, he admires the captain so much, and Fuji's silent strength._

_I don't know about Momoshiro though, I swear all Echizen ever does is belittle him…_

Aa, was that Miss Yuriko sat next to Coach Ryuzaki?!

It was, and she was leafing quite happily through a pile of papers; smiling and giggling and occasionally nudging Coach Ryuzaki, who would point to a regular.

"aa, how sweet…Ryuzaki-san, which one is Kaidoh? His essay is very nice." Ryuzaki gestured in Kaidoh's general direction. "Ohh, Bandana-kun is Kaidoh? One of the fighting ones from last week? He's quite introspective when you give him something to set his mind to. This will help greatly with my studies."

"Fshhh…" Kaidoh hissed and blushed, Inui ruffled his hair comfortingly.

_The others…oh, I don't have enough time. I need to focus on writing some more!_

Practice went on, and as Kawamura wrote he kept noticing something different about his team mates. Tezuka looked much more relaxed than usual, Eiji was somehow even more hyper, Kaidoh was even smiling. It was a nice day, and handing those essays in was one less burden for them all, but it was just too dramatic a change for that. He really needed to get out more on the weekends, Kawamura decided; he missed too much important stuff.

_I know in my heart that my team mates will continue to give their very best in everything they do in the future, tennis or otherwise. They will all undoubtedly focus on their dreams and do anything they put their minds to._

_I know they will, because I know they can._

Eiji had a little moment in the middle of the court, tripping over nothing and landing in a tangled heap of nya with Oishi. Everything went quieter and the rest of the regulars gathered around to see if their pair were okay.

They began to laugh, rubbed noses and kissed gently, before getting up and going on with the game. Kawamura could feel himself smile from ear to ear.

_The road to dreams needs confidence to follow. Through loneliness or hunger, you have to push through with a smile. Overcome the confusion, as simplicity is the key._

_If you ever need focus, get motivated._

_On the road to dreams, love will be the trigger._

* * *

**Thank you SO much to everyone who read and reviewed this story! X3 It makes me so happy to know people are enjoying it. Please review, and if you do, tell me which school you want to see me write next!**


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